Contributor
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3 Messages
Updated Guide, Menu, Etc...Appearance As of December 14, 2011
I appreciate the opportunity to register my disappointment in the new "updated" Menu, Search, Guide, etc...screen appearance on Direct TV. At 7:50 am this morning my older mother called almost in tears. She had turned on her Samsung 46" LCD HDTV to watch the news and discovered that overnight the format on the Search and Guide screens had changed to a black background with white lettering. In addition, items once highlighted in orange (to correspond with the orange "Select" button on the remote control) are now blue in color. White lettering against a black background is often difficult for older people to visualize. To older eyes it cane cause a glaring effect. I immediately turned on my 50" Samsung LCD HDTV and could see where my mother and possibly other older viewers would have difficulty with the new format. I was told by Customer Service that the change is geared for much larger televisions. I pointed out that many people have smaller televisions (bedrooms) as well...what are their options? It would be nice if Direct TV provided both formats for their customers. As I wrote this my brother (a website designer) called and told me he talked to our mother and he was surprised at the choices made for the updates. I realize this world is geared toward the younger generation but us 50 year olds (and older) aren't dead yet!!!
rijkstra
Scholar
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211 Messages
13 years ago
Actually white-on-black is better for reading on TVs, computer monitors, tablet e-readers, etc., that have active screens. It is easier on the eyes not to mention power usage. For non-active things like books, writing boards in classrooms, then a white/light background is better; which is why "blackboards" became "greenboards" and then "whiteboards"
White on black is fine, grey on black is not readable. What's worse is that there are areas in the new guide that are actually light grey on dark grey. Fonts are smaller in some areas too. I guess they thought they could get away with smaller fonts if resolution was higher. I've noticed since 0x59c that closed captioning text is much smaller. I'm a senior and know well that the eyes and ears tend to go together.
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romad
Scholar
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116 Messages
13 years ago
Well, at least the text turns white when you roll over it. But I agree about the gray-on-black. As for the gray-on-gray, even Apple did that when they released iTunes 10 in Oct 2010; you'd think a company so deep into design would know better.
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tonyzed
Tutor
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7 Messages
13 years ago
Actually white-on-black is better for reading on TVs, computer monitors, tablet e-readers, etc., that have active screens. It is easier on the eyes not to mention power usage. For non-active things like books, writing boards in classrooms, then a white/light background is better; which is why "blackboards" became "greenboards" and then "whiteboards"
Are you kidding me? White on black is better for reading on a couputer monitor? What about this site that you are reading right now? Imagine if the color scheme were reversed. It would be horrible. If white on black was better, why wouldn't microsoft had made their Office products that way. I can't imagine how bad it would have been to have a new Excel page or word document load in all black. What about the Kindle. Black on white, and very easy to read. You are way off on this. You must work in the Directv Guide development department.
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romad
Scholar
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116 Messages
13 years ago
Actually, I'm reading black text on a GRAY background here. But if ALL I have is TEXT and a PLAIN background, then I've found white-on-black easier on my eyes. As for the Kindle, the one I used had a dark background for its e-ink. And I don't care about Micro$oft and their junky products.
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tonyzed
Tutor
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7 Messages
13 years ago
Actually, I'm reading black text on a GRAY background here. But if ALL I have is TEXT and a PLAIN background, then I've found white-on-black easier on my eyes. As for the Kindle, the one I used had a dark background for its e-ink. And I don't care about Micro$oft and their junky products.
Wonderful. Is the shade of GRAY here closer to black or white? It is closer to white on MY monitor. You are in THE minority if you FIND it easier to view WHITE text on a BLACK background. Am I getting this "use all Capitals" on certain words thing right? I am sure that if Kindle offered a version of their product that had a horrible color scheme that you would have chosen that. No surprise there. Glad to hear about your dislike of Microsoft. I am sure that the alternatives that you must be using are much better. Very clever how you inserted a dollar sign in that word. They have made a ton of money, and I have never seen any of their products use a color scheme, other than the correct, Black on white.
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zeke1883
Tutor
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3 Messages
7 years ago
I beg to differ. That black on white menu is harder than **bleep** l to read. I know I have glaucoma. I could see the old one just fine
[Edited due to word filter avoidance.]
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litzdog911
ACE - Sage
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46.4K Messages
7 years ago
@zeke1883, you're actually responding to a very old thread when folks were griping about the last time DirecTV changed their user interface. Nobody much liked it then, either. Over time they improved things, and they'll likely do the same with the newest interface, too.
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